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rT' 



Rodriguez /Aemoirs 

of 

Early Texas 



oiie il'Vcuu.o.^ 



1913 



5'ci^b 



Designed and Printed by 

Passing Show Printing Co. 
san antonio. texas 






In m^mortam 



Since the preparation of these memoirs, Judge J. M. Rodri- 
guez, after a short illness, died at Laredo, Texas, on the 
22nd day of February, 1913. 

After his death, at the request of members of his family, 
I undertook to correct the proofs and assist in the publication 
of this little volume. It has been a great labor of love for 
me because of the long continued friendship, dating back 
nearly two hundred years, between the Rodriguez family and 
ours; and because of the great respect that I had for Judge 
Rodriguez, the author of these memoirs. 

! have always thought it a great loss to this city that some 
authentic history of old San Antonio had not been written when 
data was easier to gather than it is now, and while this book- 
let does not pretend to be a history of San Antonio, yet, in 
a great measure it gives the present inhabitant some idea of 
the life of the old settlers and pioneers who lived in this out- 
post of civilization during the time when things were not as 
comfortable and pleasant as they are today, and whose labors 
laid the foundation of this beautiful city. 

Judge Rodriguez was the type of the best element that 
helped to make this country. He was by birth and education 
a gentleman, and his whole life was devoted, as were those 
of many of his ancestors, to the service of the country. He 
believed that the making of money and accumulation of a 
fortune was secondary to the service to his country and to 
the community in which he lived. 

Judge Rodriguez was born in this city, as were his father 
and his grand-father on both his father's and his mother's 
side, and he was early honored by the citizenship of this com- 
munity by being elected to the office of Assessor and Collector 
in 1858, upon the ticket headed by General Sam Houston for 
Governor. 

After the war he moved to Laredo, Webb County, Texas, 
where, after a short time, he was elected County Clerk, and 
thereafter he was elected County Judge, which office he held 
continuously for 35 years and was County Judge at the time 
of his death; and while Judge Rodriguez was very fond of 
the people of his adopted city, his first affection was for the 
city of his birth. In writing these memoirs he has done a 
lasting service to the people of San Antonio. 

LEONARD GARZA. 

San Antonio^ Texas, September 16th, 1913. 



o 



o- 



Preface 

Q 



: Al the request of my kin people and a great many 

') 

\ of my friends, I have undertaken in this little narrative to 

{ write just the things that have happened during my life 

• time as nearly as I can recollect them. Not being'at all 

i literary inclined, I have simply dictated these facts as they 

occurred, and this is in fact more of a contribution to my 

) family then a book for the general public, and I hope the 

> 

I stranger will pardon my referring to my own family as 

\ often as I do, for I intend this mostly for my children and 

their descendants as the recollections of one of their 

ancestors at the time when the government of this country 

I was in a period of formation. I had not intended to have 

this printed at all, but my kin people are so numerous 

;' and my friends so insistent, that I have caused to be 

; printed about two hundred copies, memoirs for distribu- 

.; tion among my kin people and friends. Many of the 

:■ things, such of course as the description of the battle of 

^ San Jacinto were repeated to me by my father, who was 

a participant therein, and who often spoke to us about it, 

; Yours truly, 

; Laredo, Texas, J. M. RODRIGUEZ 

( Aug. 15, 1912. 



Page Six 



nx of ^n&epcnbmci^ 




i-A Y earliest recollection is when I was a 
boy about six years old. One evening I 
was coming with my father and mother 
up Soledad Street, where the Kampmann 
Building is now, and as we got a little 
further up the street, we were stopped by a sentry and 
there were other soldiers there and we saw some 
breastworks there. General Cos, the Mexican general, 
my father told me, was in possession of the town. We 
went a little further down where the present corner 
of Travis and Soledad Street is. We crossed a ditch 
on a plank and went up Soledad Street to see my 
uncle, Jose Olivarri. I heard a great deal of shooting 
towards the Plaza and my father said that General 
Burleson of the Texas Army was trying to capture 
the city. The next day General Cos capitulated and 
was allowed to take his arms and leave the city. 

Ben Milam was killed at the Veramendi House. 
The arms the Mexicans had were old English muskets 
that did not reach much over fifty yards. The Texas 
army used long range flint rifles. Shortly after that. 
Colonel Travis was put in command with a small 
garrison and he stayed at the Alamo. Colonel Travis 
was a fine looking man of more than ordinary height. 
I recollect him distinctly from the very fact that he 
used to come up to our house from the Alamo and 
talk to my father and mother a great deal. Our 
house was the first one after you crossed the river 
coming from the Alamo and Col. Travis generally 
stopped at our home going and coming. He was 
a very popular man and was well liked by every<me. 



Page Seven 



My father was always in sympathy with the Texas 
cause, but had so far not taken up arms on either 
side. 

Soon after this, a report came to my father from 
a rehable source that Santa Ana was starting for 
] \ San Antonio with 7,000 men, composed of cavalry, 
I i infantry and artillery, in fact a well organized army. 
I I My father sent for Colonel Travis and he came to our 
j \ house and my father told him about this coming of 
' ■ Santa Ana and advised him to retire into the interior 

of Texas and abandon the Alamo. He told him he 
could not resist Santa Ana's army with such a small 
force. Colonel Travis told my father that he could 
not believe it, because General Cos had only been de- 
feated less than three months, and it did not seem 
possible to him that General Santa Ana could organize 
in so short a time as large an army as that. Colonel 
Travis, therefore, remained at the Alamo, and at the 
last, Travis told my father, ''Well we have made up 
our minds to die at the Alamo fighting for Texas." 
My father asked him again to retire as General Sam 
Houston was then in the interior of Texas organizing 
an army. 



\'< 






The Mexicans in San Antonio who were in sym- 
pathy with the war of Independence organized a com- 
pany under Colonel Juan Seguin. There were twenty- 
four in the company including my father and they 
joined the command of General Sam Houston. My 
mother and all of us remained in the city. 

One morning early a man named Rivas called at 
our house and told us that he had seen Santa Ana in 
disguise the night before looking in on a fandango 
on Soledad Street. My father being away with Gen- 
eral Houston's army, my mother undertook to act for 
us, and decided it was best for us to go into the 
country to avoid being here when General Santa 



Page Eight 



'} \ 



Ana's army should come in. We went to the ranch of 
Dona Santos Ximenes. We left in ox carts, the 
wheels of which were made of solid wood. We buried 
our money in the house, about $800.00; it took us 
nearly two days to get to the ranch. 

A few days after that, one morning about day 
break, I heard some firing, and Pablo Olivarri, who 
was with us, woke me up. He said, "You had better 
get up on the house ; they are fighting at the Alamo." 
We got up on the house and could see the flash of the 
guns and hear the booming of the cannon. The firing 
lasted about two hours. The next day we heard that 
all the Texans had been killed and the Alamo taken. 
A few days after that an army consisting of about 
1200 men under General Urrea came by from San 
Antonio on their way to Goliad to attack Fannin. 
I saw these troops as they passed the ranch. 

There has been a great deal of discussion with 
reference to what had been done with the bodies of 
the Texans who were slain in the Alamo. It is 
claimed that Colonel Seguin wrote a letter in which 
he stated that he got together the ashes in the follow- 
ing February and put them in an iron urn and 
buried them in San Fernando Cathedral. This does 
not seem possible to me, because nothing of that 
kind could have happened without us knowing that 
and we never heard of any occurrence of that kind. 
Seguin did not return from Houston's army until my 
father did, both of them being in the same command, 
my father a first Lieutenant and he a Colonel. It is 
true that the bones were brought together some- 
where in the neighborhood or a little east of where 
the Menger Hotel is now and were buried by Colonel 
Seguin, but that any of them were ever buried in the 
Cathedral, I have never heard nor do I believe that 
to be true. The only person I know of being buried 
in the Cathedral was Don Eugenio Navarro, who was 



Page Nine 



o 



y^- 



buried near the south wall of the Cathedral near the 
chancel. 

Some days after the Urrea army passed, we heard 
of the massacre of Fannin's army at Goliad. My 
mother, along with other loyal families, determined 
then to move to East Texas, and we started with all 
our goods and chattels in ox-carts. The Flores and 
Seguin families were among those who went with us. 
Most of us traveled in the carts. Horses were very 
scarce, the army taking nearly all they could find. 
We had gotten as far as the Trinity river on the road 
to Nacogdoches where we heard of Santa Ana being 
defeated and all returned to San Antonio, except our 
family, who went on to Washington, which was the 
Texas Capital, as my father was still in the field with 
Houston's troops. 




Page Ten 




GENERAL SAM HOUSTON, 

fro)ii a painting by S. Solomon of San Antonio. 

Thr original has been approved by the who'.e 

fantilv as the best likeness in existence. 



Page Eleven 



Sli]^ l^attlc of ^nn Hacmtn 



HE company which my father joined, 
[^ belonged to General Sam Houston's forces 
and were attached to General Houston's 
W^^^i^ staff. My father and General Houston 
became very warm friends, which friend- 
ship lasted until my father's death, and continued 
with our family until Houston died. My father often 
told us the story of the Battle of San Jacinto. 

He told us that General Santa Ana picked out 1200 
of his best men from his army and crossed the Brazos 
in pursuit of Houston, under the impression that 
Houston was retreating toward Louisiana, and his 
main army of about 5,000 men or more remained on 
this side of the river under General Filisola. Hous- 
ton discovered all these movements of Santa Ana, 
and he told his men that he was preparing to fight 
Santa Ana's advance army. Santa Ana came up 
within only a few miles of Houston's camp. 

One evening Houston sent out a scouting party 
consisting of my father and others, to reconnoitre. 
They ran into Santa Ana's scouts and had a little 
brush. Santa Ana's men had a small cannon, and a 
cannon ball passed so close to my father's eyes that 
he was blinded for three or four hours. The next day 
about two o'clock, General Houston went around and 
talked to all of his men in camp and he told them 
that now was the best time to fight Santa Ana and 
asked them would they do so, and they all agreed to 
it enthusiastically. Houston had about 600 men, all 
cavalry. The next day he prepared for the attack, 



Page Twelve 



and my father's company was placed on the left hand 
of Houston, and he told them that when they got 
in certain distance to lay down and drag themselves 
on the ground until they got in rifle shot of Santa 
Ana's men, who were taking a siesta. As soon as 
they got in range they let loose a volley into Santa 
Ana's men. After they had fired, they were afraid 
to stand up again and load. One of the company, 
a man named Manuel Flores, got up to load his gun 
and said, "Get up you cowards, Santa Ana's men are 
running." Then they got up, loaded their guns and 
commenced firing again. Santa Ana's men kept on 
running from the first volley and General Lamar 
coming up stopped the shooting, and took about six 
hundred prisoners. Santa Ana's horse was shot about 
six times. The horse was brought to General Hous- 
ton and died. General Houston was slightly wounded 
in the leg. 

A day or two after the battle, two of Houston's 
men went out from the camp to kill some game, and 
when a few miles from camp, they found a man sit- 
ting in an old log house, and they took him prisoner. 
As soon as they arrested him, one of the men said 
to him, "Look here, you are Santa Ana." The man 
denied this and made signs with his hands that he 
was a clerk; he was a scribe. The men said that as 
he wore a fine shirt, he could not be a common 
soldier because the common soldiers did not wear 
such shirts. They started with him for Houston's 
camp, but he only walked a few steps and then com- 
plained that he could not walk, so one of the men 
gave him his horse and kept asking him if he were 
not Santa Ana. One of the men thought he was Santa 
Ana and the others did not. Soldiers did not wear 
shirts trimmed with lace, so that surely must be 
Santa Ana. 



Page Thirteen 



He put the man on the horse and led him. When 
they got near the camp with their prisoner, the 
Mexican prisoners in the Texas camp began to cry, 
"Santa Ana, Santa Ana." They took him into camp 

; \ and as soon as they came to General Houston, Santa 
Ana said, "General Houston, I am General Santa Ana, 
your prisoner of war." General Houston said "What 

j I can I do for you?" He answered "Give me something 
to eat, for I am hungry." Then General Houston 
said to my father, "Rodriguez, you and Menchaca 
cook a fine Mexican dinner for General Santa Ana." 
There was not much to cook, but they made tortillas 
of flour and gave him the best they had in camp. 

' As soon as he had eaten dinner. General Houston 

asked him, "Why did you put to the sword every 
j j man in the Alamo," to which Santa Ana replied, that 
1 / according to the rules of war when a superior force 
demanded unconditional surrender of inferior forces, 
if not obeyed, they forfeited their lives. General 
Houston told him that such was a barbarous cus- 
tom and should not be practiced in these days. Then 
General Houston asked Santa Ana why all of Fannin's 
men were massacred. Santa Ana said that he had 
nothing to do with that ; that he was not responsible. 
General Urrea was in full command at Goliad. Gen- 
eral Houston asked Santa Ana then to issue an order 
commanding General Filisola to retire across the 
Rio Grande. To this, Santa Ana replied that he was 
not in command of the Mexican army then, he was 
a prisoner of war and that General Filisola was the 
commander and was not bound to obey his orders. 
General Houston told him to issue the order anyway, 
; and if not obeyed that he, Santa Ana, would not be 

; ■ to blame. He gave the order and General Filisola 
I obeyed and retired. This greatly helped the Texas 

! ;> cause. 



Page Fourteen 



General Santa Ana said he wanted to make arrange- 
ments for his liberty. General Houston replied, "I 
have no authority to make such arrangements. We 
have a Congress and a Provisional Government. We 
will have to submit that question to them." 

I omitted to state that Santa Ana, after he had 
come into the camp and had eaten, inquired if his 
aid General Almonte was alive and was told that he 
was alive and he sent for Almonte, who was a good 
English scholar and who thereafter acted as inter- 
preter. Santa Ana asked for his baggage and it was 
brought to him. He took out a gold watch and 
offered it to the soldier who loaned him his horse. 
General Houston said, "My men cannot take pres- 
ents." Then they had a long conversation about his 
liberty, and this conversation between General Hous- 
ton and General Santa Ana was in my father's pres- 
ence. 

My father said that while Santa Ana was in the 
camp with Houston, some of the men of his army 
attempted to create a mutiny and demanded that 
Santa Ana be executed because of the massacre of 
Fannin's men and the Alamo. General Houston being 
wounded was lying down at the time and he rose up 
and made a speech to the men. "If we keep Santa 
Ana alive," said he, "We have the liberty of Texas in 
our hands; if we kill him, we will have the contempt 
and the odium of the entire world and will lose our 
war. If you kill him, you might as well kill me." 
They talked it over and finally agreed to drop the 
matter. My father was a witness to all of this. 

A peculiar circumstance of the battle of San 
Jacinto is that my father's kinsman, Mariano Rodri- 
guez also took part in that battle, but he was on 
Santa Ana's staff as Captain and paymaster, and he 



Page Fifteen 



retired to Mexico with the Mexican army and did 
not return until after the Mexican War was over 
in 1849. 

The Mexican troops having departed from Texas 
altogether, the Texans then organized their govern- 
ment, but a great portion of the army remained in 
the field, expecting the return of the troops from 
Mexico. About eight months after the battle of San 
Jacinto, the company in which my father served was 
mustered out and he was honorably discharged. While 
he was still in the army, a brother of my mother's 
came to Washington and brought us back to San 
Antonio, and my father after leaving the army re- 
turned to San Antonio and went to merchandising. 

Two or three days after we got to San Antonio, 
I went to the Alamo and saw the blood on the walls. 




Page Sixteen 



^ftcr tl|e Jllar 




OLONEL SEGUIN was then appointed 
mayor of San Antonio and had charge 
of the town as to both military and 
^^^° civil affairs. A great many of the 
Mexicans who were in sympathy with 
the Mexican Government had fled to Mexico, and 
others who had been loyal to the Texas cause, re- 
turned and helped to establish the civil government. 
J. D. McLeod was the first Chief Justice and Jose 
Antonio Navarro represented Bexar County in the 
first Congress. My father opened a store next to 
our residence on Commerce Street. 

Then came the Vasquez raid at which time I was 
at the ranch with my father, near Seguin. General 
Vasquez made his raid in 1841 but only remained 
here a short time. There was no fighting and he 
finally left. I am not familiar with the details of 
that raid. 

In 1842, a report came into San Antonio that a 
band of robbers from Mexico was coming to rob San 
Antonio. The people then got together and organized 
two companies of citizens. My father belonged to the 
company with Capt. Menchaca and they had their 
quarters in the old court house on the corner of 
Market and Main Plaza. On the corner of Soledad and 
Main Plaza, an American named Chauncy Johnson 
had a company of forty men, all Americans and they 
composed the divisions to fight against these rob- 



Pagc Seventeen 






bers. As soon as they organized they sent three 
Mexicans with an escort to meet this band. They 
met them and it turned out to be the regular army 
of Mexico, instead of robbers, and they kept them 
prisoners. 

One morning, just before daybreak I heard a gun 
fired, and woke up and I heard a band of music, play- 
ing an old air called La Cachucha. It was the danc- 
ing tune in those days. It was very fine music. It 
was a band of fifty musicians. The firing of the gun 
was the warning to the citizens that the army was 
here. As this was the regular army of Mexico, 
Menchaca's company agreed that they could not stand 
up against a whole army and withdrew to a safe 
distance. Chauncy Johnson, however, said his com- 
pany should not disband, but would fight it out. The 
army then marched into town. The band was in the 
lead coming into Main Plaza between the Cathedral 
and what is now Frost's Bank. Then Johnson's men 
turned loose a volley on the band and killed and 
wounded fifteen or twenty musicians. This angered 
General Woll, and he placed a small cannon where 
the Southern Hotel now stands and fired on Johnson's 
men. Johnson then raised a white flag and the 
Mexicans took them all prisoners and they finally 
were sent back to Mexico. General Woll had a fine 
ball given in his honor by the citizens. After the 
ball a report came in that Colonel Hays was camped 
on the Salado preparing to attack Woll. General 
Woll sent a portion of his men out to the Salado to 
attack Col. Hays; They fought one day and night but 
could not dislodge Hays and the next day they re- 
treated towards the Rio Grande. Antonio Perez, the 
father of the present Antonio Perez now living at 
San Antonio, who was with General Woll, came at 
night to our house and told us the army was going 
to retire into Mexico. While the battle was going 



Page Eighteen 



iU; 



on at the Salado, Woll sent a company of cavalry 
and attacked and killed Dawson's men, who were 
coming from Segiiin to reinforce Hays. They killed 
and butchered nearly all of them. 

After Woll's raid, General Somerville organized a 
force, and disobeying the orders of General Sam 
Houston went into Mexico and was defeated at Mier, 
and all were taken prisoners. Those prisoners were 
taken into the interior of Mexico, and one of them 
related to me the whole circumstance. His name was 
Glascock. He said that they had orders to kill one 
out of every ten. They filled a pitcher with black 
and white beans, then the men were formed into line 
and each man would run his hand into the pitcher 
and take a bean. Glascock said that when he went 
up to the pitcher to take his bean out that he was 
shivering. He ran his hand into the pitcher and got 
a white bean and was saved. Glascock afterwards 
started the first English newspaper in San Antonio. 




Page Nineteen 



"^txns ns n ^tnU 




1845 the Republic of Texas was an- 
nexed to the United States as a state 



'^-^^ and thus passed away the Republic of 



Texas. 



I was sent to New Orleans in 1842, where I attend- 
ed the French schools for two years. While there I 
heard that Henry Clay was a candidate for President. 
He was opposed to the Annexation of Texas to the 
Union, but he was a weak candidate and was defeated 
and Polk was elected on the democratic platform, 
which favored annexation. After Polk's election, fol- 
lowed the annexation of Texas as a state. Then 
came the war with Mexico. 

The United States troops came, a regiment of cav- 
alry and camped on the Salado. They were here 
for a time and afterwards went into Mexico. After 
I returned from New Orelans, I went to work in my 
father's store. 

The Mexican War, of course settled the status of 
this government and it then became the same as ciny 
other state of the Union and the people became in- 
terested in the politics of the United States, of which 
the leading issue was slavery. In this particular sec- 
tion of the state, there were not many slaves, because 
Mexican people as a rule do not believe in slavery. 
My family owned some slaves, but we worked them 
as other servants and treated them kindly. I became 
interested in local politics in 1854 and was elected 
alderman. My father had been an alderman also, 
during the term Colonel Seguin was Mayor of San 
Antonio. Afterwards I was elected assessor and tax 



Page Twenty 



collector and served in these offices for two years. 
The secession question then came to be a burning 
issue. General Houston was a candidate for Governor 
on the Union issue and Runnels was his opponent. 
General Houston made an eloquent speech at San 
Pedro Park on the Union issue against secession; he 
was speaking from a small platform erected by the 
democrats. In his speech, he alluded to the democratic 
platform and said that he did not believe in platforms. 
He was a very fine orator, and during his speech he 
ridiculed the democratic platform and called out, 
"Platforms will not stand." Just at that moment the 
platform upon which he was standing fell, and Gen- 
eral Houston went through. He continued his speech, 
although the people could only see his head and 
shoulders above the fallen stand, and said, "Ladies 
and Gentlemen, you see the democratic platform will 
not stand." He carried Bexar County by a great 
majority and was elected Governor by 10,000 or more 
votes. I saw him inaugurated and carried my sister 
Carolina with me to attend the Inaugural ball, and 
General Sam Houston did us the honor to invite my 
sister to lead the grand march at the Inaugural ball. 
He was a steadfast friend of our family and had a 
great affection for my father. 

Shortly after that, the secession convention was 
called and I attended it as interpreter for Colonel 
Basilio Benavides, representative from Webb Coun- 
ty. Sam Smith and Jose Angel Navarro represented 
Bexar County. After the secession was declared and 
established, Houston refused to accept it by taking 
an oath and he was removed from office. His place 
was taken by Lieutenant Governor Clark. After 
Houston was relieved from office he went out on the 
capitol grounds, and before a large crowd, among 
whom was about 500 of McCullough's men, delivered 
a most magnificent address. Among other things he 



Page Twenty-one 



s 1 
) / 



■ ) 



said, "You Southern people stand to-day as traitors 
to your country and your flag and you will regret 
the day that you made such a move because the 
United States is a powerful nation and they will get 
reinforcement from Europe. You will not be recog- 
nized as a nation by the world, and have no standing 
whatever, and it will not be long before you will be 
paying five dollars a pound for your coffee." This 
later came true. "You will put up a good fight and 
then have to surrender. You have no more right to 
secede than a county has from a state, — ^you are revo- 
lutionists, and as I stand here to-day, although I 
am ready to risk my life for Texas, I hate to see 
the Texans lose their lives and property." 

In the meantime there were shouts from those who 
opposed him, and some people would no longer listen 
to his speech. He retired to his home, but the war 
went on, and everything he predicted came to pass. 








Twenty-two 



^xxhxixn^ 



;• J 



■i^l AM sorry to say that I cannot recount 
hairbreadth escapes of my own among 
P^=^ the Indians as I generally managed to 
'^ keep out of trouble of that kind. My 
duties to my family generally kept me in 
the city and I did not have an opportunity to mingle 
with the Indians as freely as those whose duties 
called them to the country. 




^dIu the JCame of (Eexns (§d^^hmUh 

I have heard a great many reasons for the name 
Texas, but I am, I believe, peculiarly in a position 
to be able to settle that question for I have in my 
possession a document of the Spanish government 
dated 1786 which was issued from the then governor 
of Texas to my ancestor Andres Benito Curvier, 
which made him a knight of the Spanish crown. In 
the beginning of the document it sets forth the 
various titles of the governor and among others is 
given that of "Capitan De Los Tejas de esta Pro- 
vincia" which means "Captain of the Tejas of this 
province" meaning a tribe of Indians. Further along 
in the same document it gives as one of the reasons 
for thus honoring my ancestor the fact that he had 
faithfully acted interpreter in the negotiations with 
the Tejas Indians. Here Tejas in the Indian language 
is explained to me by my father as meaning "round 
silver disc-like metal," and all of the Tejas Indians 
wore a metal disc of that kind around their necks to 
distinguish them from the other tribes. My father 



Page Twenty-three 



has told me that he remembers in his youth to have 
seen many of them thus equipped. It is just one 
step from Captain De Los Tejas to the word Texas, 
because J in Spanish is usually pronounced the same 
as X. Even to this date, most of the Spanish people 
in Mexico and Texas usually pronounce it Tehas. 

The nearest I ever came to being in an Indian 
affray was in 1841 when a noted fight took place in 
and around the old court house, corner of Market and 
Main Plaza between some Indian Chiefs and the 
Texas military and San Antonio citizens. It was a 
most unfortunate affair. The people of San Antonio 
were for a long time thereafter criticized and hated 
by the various Indian tribes throughout this country, 
the Indians claiming that they had been treacherously 
dealt with. I was entirely too young at the time to 
remember the details, being just twelve years old. 

It seems that at various times prior to that, the 
Indians had taken a lot of white people prisoners 
and a conference was called by the people of San 
Antonio with the Indian Chiefs in San Antonio and 
the Indians were to bring their captives with them. 
As heretofore described the court house was on the 
corner of Market and Main Plaza and back of that 
where the old Market House now stands and beyond 
was a large corral in which as a rule the sheriffs, 
soldiers and rangers penned their horses. A little 
jail was also in the back there. About twenty-five 
Indian warriors came in for this conference accom- 
panied by their squaws and papooses and they camped 
in this corral. The Indian warriors attended the con- 
ference with the civil and military authorities in the 
court house. A great discussion took place there and 
the Indians were upbraided by the citizens for fail- 
ing to keep their promise and bring their captives. 



Page Twenty-four 



The local authorities then insisted that part of 
them should go back and leave one half dozen of their 
chiefs there as hostages until they brought back the 
captives. This discussion was going on when I shp- 
ped into the court house with one of my cousins 
about my age. I saw my father there and other citi- 
zens. While this discussion was going on, I looked 
from the East windows towards the old Market House 
and saw Major Howard who was in command of the 
troops with about twenty soldiers, cutting off the 
retreat of the Indians from the rear. One of the 
Indians saw that, and they began to talk very fast and 
looked excited. The interpreter then came down 
from the platform where they were all seated and 
said, "I am going home, the Indians are mad." Things 
were looking a little squally when my companion in- 
sisted that we should leave. We got out and when 
we got into Market Street, we began to hear the guns 
firing and then we ran into Commerce Street and 
got into the house of Don Antonio Baca where we 
took shelter. It looked as though there was fighting 
going on all over town. We finally managed to get 
home. My mother was very uneasy for she knew my 
father was at the court house. He finally got home 
and told us just what occurred after I left. It seems 
while he was in the court house acting with 
the other citizens, some one called out to my father 
that the man with the robe around him had a 
bow and arrow under his robe. My father then 
jerked the blanket away and found the bow and 
arrow fixed. He took it away and then the soldiers 
fired on this Indian and kept a general firing 
up and all of the Indians were killed. Major 
Howard was slightly wounded by an arrow. The 
next day the commanding officer of the troops went 
to the camp of the squaws back of the Market House 
and informed them of the death of the Indians and 
asked if any of them would volunteer to go out and 



Page Twenty-five 



bring in the captives and when they had done so 
the squaws and their children would be released, 
otherwise they would be held as captives until the 
white captives were released. I was present when 
this conversation took place. A middle aged squaw 
then volunteered and told the officer that if they 
would give her a good mount she would promise to 
bring the captives in. They then took her to the 
corral where the horses were, and I remember seeing 
her pick out a roan horse, mount him and go out 
of town. A few days after the Indians came to 
the edge of the city and sent notice in that they were 
there with their captives. Remembering the fate of 
their brethren they refused to come into town. An 
exchange took place at San Pedro Springs and after 
that it was a little hard to get the Indians to come 
directly to town. 

^cirimts (©thcr ^uctb^nts 

In the immediate vicinity of San Antonio, there 
were no wild Indians located. The nearest settlement 
was at New Braunfels where the Tahuacanos usually 
camped. They were great horse thieves and would 
sneak into town and steal horses right out of the 
corrals at night. When they came here on friendly 
visits or to trade skins, they usually camped at San 
Pedro Springs where a kinsman of my father's, , 

Francisco Xavier Rodriguez, had established a trading ; 

post. Sometimes they would kill men and scalp them. 
I remember one day about two o'clock when we were 
living on Commerce Street, my mother called us to i 

the window and said, "Look, look," and we looked to- 1 1 
ward the Ursuline Academy and saw two Indians | 

stooping over a man that they had killed. One rode > 

a bay and the other a white horse. At another time 
I remember an uncle of mine who had married Josefa 



Page Twenty-six 



Curvier was killed on the Salado just outside of town 
and brought into town with his scalp off. They lived 
across the street from us. I will never forget that 
sight. 

One time Fernando Curvier, also a kinsman, was 
going to a fandango on what is now Houston Street 
and when he passed a little way up Acequia Street, 
what is now Main Avenue, from the Garza Building, 
now the Rand Building, he heard a noise but paid 
no attention to it. He wore a Mexican blanket in 
lieu of an overcoat as everyone else did in those days 
and when hp got into the house where the fandango 
was, he found to his great surprise an arrow stuck 
in his blanket. He then remembered the noise in 
front of the Garza Building and they all went to- 
gether to catch the Indian, but he had gone. My 
uncle Jose Olivarri and others went out hunting deer 
on the Leon Creek and in a brush with the Indians 
out there, was killed. He was my mother's brother 
and the father of Mrs. A. F. Wulff, of San Antonio. 
One time the Indians rode into town and taking a man 
up, whose name I have forgotten, rode across San 
Pedro Creek. He was kept prisoner for some years 
and finally exchanged. 

"^{^t Experience uf ^ntoittn ISitgextc ^aCtarrn 

Antonio was the son of Col. Navarro and had a 
little store in San Antonio. He was on his father's 
ranch in Atascosa County and was taken captive by 
the Indians. The Indian method of treating prisoners 
in camp was to strip them of all of their clothing 
and simply give them a breech clout and in that way 
prevent their escape to any distance. Antonio was 
treated just that way, but strange to say, among the 
Indians in his camp was one who had remembered 
Antonio giving him sugar at various times from his 
store in San Antonio. The Indian made himself 



Page Twenty-seven 



known to Antonio and told him that he would aid him 
to escape. One day when a band of the tribe went 
out hunting, Antonio asked to be taken along. 
Being a captive he could not have a horse and he 
chose to ride behind the Indian who had promised 
to help him. As they were riding along about mid- 
night, the Indian told him to get off the horse and 
hide in the brush until the Indians had passed. He did 
so and then struck out for San Antonio. He had 
no clothes on and came into San Antonio naked as 
a worm, early in the morning. His family residence 
was on Camaron Street and Antonio quietly slipped 
up to his door and knocked. When his wife came 
to open the door, she cried, "Indians," and slammed 
the door in his face. It took Antonio some time to 
convince his wife that he was not an Indian brave 
but her own husband. Antonio was afterwards made 
county judge of Zapata County for many years and 
is now dead. 

My cousin O'livarri and I decided one day that we 
would go to Fredericksburg and we went on horse 
back and when we were about fifteen miles from 
there, we saw a number of Indians around us in dif- 
ferent places. We did not know whether they saw us 
or not, but we certainly made time on our horses 
until we got to Mr. Meusebach's ranch, one of the 
newly arrived German settlers. We were royally 
treated and stayed until we thought it safe to go 
back. 

Another curious incident about Indian life occurred 
after the annexation. Major Neighbors was the In- 
dian agent for the Federal Government and lived at 
San Antonio. He took several Indian Chiefs to 
Washington and I remember seeing them when they 
came back. They came to our house several times. 
Their dress consisted of nothing but a military coat 
with epaulettes on the shoulders. They wore no 



Page Twenty -eight 



trousers but they had moccasins on their feet. They 
wore enormous medals presented to them by Presi- 
dent Polk. One of them, the head chief, was a very 
handsome looking Indian. He recited to us some 
of the doings of the Indians on their voyage to 
Washington. 

Steamboats were just then a new invention and 
the Indians on their way to Washington took a little 
steamer and went down Buffalo Bayou. Just as soon 
as they got on the steamer, a whistle blew and one 
of the Indians got scared and jumped in the water. 
It took some time to get him back on the boat. When 
they arrived at Washington they were visited by all 
the noted men of the nation and the ladies even en- 
tertained them and played the piano for them and 
gave them cake and other good things to eat. 

Francisco Xavier Rodriguez who as heretofore 
said, had a trading post at San Pedro Springs for the 
Indians, was on the way one time to go to Guadalupe 
County, accompanied by a servant, to one of his 
ranches,but was taken by the Indians and murdered. 
The servant came right back into town and reported 
his master's death. The body was never found and 
the Germans out in that neighborhood claim thar his 
body was buried in one of the fields out there that 
shows a stone mound. He was the father of Mariano 
Rodriguez and the grandfather of Thomas A Rodri- 
guez. 

Old Spanish Court House, 

Cor. Market St. and Main 

Post. Scene of the Indian 
Fight 




:^.^ 



Page Tivcnty-nine 



®I|^ ^tbaurrt BRt&oIuttnn 



;. ) 




Y children and grandchildren will hardly 
suppose that their dignified grandfather 
was ever engaged in a revolution, but 
that is a fact. In 1855 when Santa Ana 
was president of Mexico, Vidaurri organ- 
ized a revolution against him. Three of us, Sixto 
Navarro, Pablo Olivarri and I determined to join 
the revolution and we got some horses and went to 
Rio Grande City where the head of the insurrection 
was supposed to be. When we arrived there we were 
told that Gen. Caravajal was organizing a regiment 
ten miles below. We were sent there but did not 
find him but we found Col. Garcia in command and 
he told us we were welcome to join his ranks. I was 
made first lieutenant and put on the staff. We stayed 
about three days on this side of the Rio Grande. 
One night we were told to get ready to cross the 
river and we crossed 150 men in a small flat boat. 
There were about fifty men on the other side wait- 
ing for us. They told us that Santa Ana's troops 
of about 600, were about twenty miles down the 
river. We consolidated our forces and moved to the 
city of Mier. As soon as we arrived in Mier we 
got into the middle of the Plaza, and Col. Garcia 
called to pay his respect to the Alcalde. The colonel 
said to the Alcalde, "I must have $5000.00 to give to 
my soldiers and must have quarters and corn for my 
horses." The Alcalde then beat a big drum on the 
Plaza to summon the citizens to a conference. That 
was the custom in those days. Then he assessed each 
one so much money and in the evening they gave us 



) i 



Page Thirty 



$5000.00. I was present in the city hall during the 
transaction. 

The soldiers then each got some money and I got 
$4.00 as my share. In the mean time I had mingled 
with the people and persuaded them to declare them- 
selves against Santa Ana's government which they did 
the next day. They then organized a company of 
fifty men of cavalry of their own and joined our 
command. The third night they gave us a grand 
ball. It is true we had no glittering uniforms but 
we had a good time. We then started out on our 
march in the direction of Monterey. About four 
days after that we reached the town of Cerralvo 
where we went through the same process of getting 
money and corn that we had at Mier and the people 
there joined us and augmented our army just as they 
had at Mier. At this place General De la Garza came 
from Victoria to take command of our troops. Our 
orders were not to move as a large force was going 
to join us. General Garza in a few days took all the 
troops out of Cerralvo and went to meet Vidaurri's 
army. The meeting took place the next day at 
Capadero Hacienda. We arrived at four o'clock in 
the afternoon. Gen. Viduarri and his staff met Gen. 
de la Garza and his staff, of which I was one. We 
had quite a confab and they gave us chocolate and 
cake. Gen. Vidaurri had some newspapers from the 
United States in English and I was the only one who 
could read them so it kept me busy for the next few 
hours translating the papers to the General. While 
I was with Gen. Vidaurri, Capt. Zaragoza, who 
afterwards became a noted general, called on me and 
asked me if I was Rodriguez of San Antonio son of 
Ambrosio. He invited me to his tent and we had 
quite a chat. He was in the infantry of the army 
and claimed that there was some relation between 
his family and mine. The forces of Vidaurri then 



Page Thirty-one 



w 






u 



united and moved back towards the Rio Grande as 
far as Mier where we heard the report that a large 
army was near Saltillo commanded by General Cruz. 
Vidaurri then took his main army and went to meet 
Cruz and routed him. Gen. Garza commanded about 
700 men, with whom I was and remained at Mier. 
Finally we were ordered to proceed slowly to Mata- 
moros and not to attack without orders. We went 
I \ from there to the city of Guerrero and Santa Ana's 
? '( troops were riding towards Matamoros. They went 
[ i to Reynosa and finally got to Matamoros where they 

< joined Gen. Woll who was in command there. This 
I s is the same Gen. Woll that came into San Antonio 
{ \ after the treaty with Santa Ana. We surrounded Mat- 
amoros and laid siege to it. We were there nearly 
two months before anything happened. The people 

') \ were in sympathy with us and gave us news of what 
■ \ was going on in Matamoros every day. Finally we 

< < heard that Gen. Woll had left his command and gone 
, I over to Brownsville. We were told that Santa Ana 

I had left the country and all sorts of rumors were 

> \ afloat. Matamoros finally surrendered and a com- 

; ; mittee of citizens came into camp with a white flag 

; :; and made arrangements with Gen. Garza to give 

up the town on the condition that the troops would 
have the privilege of leaving town with all their 
arms and ammunition except the cannon. I remem- 
ber the day the city was turned over to us. Santa 
[ \ Ana's troops marched out of one end of the town, 
\ while we came into the other and took possession 

I of it. We were furnished fine quarters and the citi- 

I I zens there called to see us. The army was then re- 

• \ organized. We were given uniforms consisting of 

\ : blue blouses with shoulder straps and blue pants. 

; \ In the meantime Santa Ana's army in the in- 

I I terior had been defeated and Juan Alvarez was 

' declared president of Mexico. I remained with the 



Page Thirty-tico 



command at Matamoros for six months as first lieu- 
tenant but every mail I received letters from my 
mother urging me to come back so I went back to 
San Antonio and the next election I ran for collector 
and assessor of Bexar County and was elected. 

Since my experience in Mexico along my own resi- 
dence on the Rio Grande I have seen many revolu- 
tions and it looks as though that country would never 
be at peace. The trouble with the people of Mexico 
is with the principal people that own the property. 
They do not seem to be willing to fight. Each side 
in a revolution usually hires men to fight for them, 
who have no interest in the country, but get paid 
for fighting. It is to be hoped that eventually as 
the middle and lower classes become better educated, 
that Mexico will have an army patriotic enough to 
fight for that country for its own sake rather than 
for the pay they get. At the present time it seems 
as though they would have to be governed with an 
iron hand to prevent absolute destruction of all prop- 
erty. Poor Mexico ! 







Page Thirty-three 



^ame %ih of ti\B ^cnpb 



^^|gj^ rpjj-g people of pure Spanish 

^flJPHjjjk descent who lived here in the 

i ^^^^^S^^ early days had very few com- 

jJKp^^BLjlk mercial pursuits, and there was 

just enough at this time to pro- 

I'ml ISIIhI I ^^^^ ^^^ necessities of life that 
zU \JfsJlmmJ I the town required. We had 
1*1 Im 11*** I Pl^^ty to eat, but no great luxu- 
Ito I »* I ^^^^' ^^ raised enough cattle 
-^'- Ww I ^^^ sheep for our own con- 

sumption. Our food was mostly 
corn, bacon, fruit and vegetables. 
There were wild apricots, black 
haws and wild plums and per- 
simmons. The greatest com- 
merce seemed to have been the 
traffic from Port Lavaca, bring- 
ing all the goods for the stores 
that went oveiland to Chihuahua, 
to Santa Fe and El Paso. The people employed in that 
traffic camped along the San Pedro Creek and finally 
formed the little village called Chihuahua. We some- 
times had dances among ourselves, and the young 
people sometimes attended dances at Seguin. One 
time at a dance we had tied our horses outside and 
the Indians came and stole our I orces. We had to 
stay all night and walk home the next morning. 

The wealthier people wore fine silks, French goods, 
muslins, etc., brought from New Orleans. Soon after 
annexation, things began to assume a more cosmo- 
politan appearance. The coming of the United States 



■liWS 



Rodriguez Homestead. 

The first two-story 

home built on 

Commerce Street. 



and also the trains 



■='=^- 



Page Thirty-four 



s ( 



Army officers brought an era of social gatherings 
and I was kept busy acting as an escort for my sis- 
ters in attending all these functions. 

I first attended a little Mexican school in the 
neighborhood where we lived on Commerce Street, 
where nothing but Spanish was taught. Afterwards 
when the town of Seguin was organized, the Ameri- 
cans there established a very good school and we 
moved there and stayed for eighteen months in order 
to have the benefit of the schools. Then the Ursuline 
Convent was established here and my sisters went 
to it. 

The Public School System of San Antonio was 
established in 1854 and the convent also was per- 
mitted to draw its part of the School fund. Since 
then the constitution has been changed and no pri- 
vate schools are now allowed to draw a portion of 
the public school funds which I think is a great 
mistake. 

The house in which I was born was the first two- 
story house ever erected in San Antonio on Com- 
merce Street. Adjoining us on the west side the 
Perez family lived. The daughter Rafaela, still re- 
sides in San Antonio, the wife of Cleofas Ximenez. 
On the east side near the river lived a Mr. McMullen, 
for whom McMullen County is named. Between that 
house and ours was brush. In front of us lived a 
grand aunt of mine Alejandra Curvier. 

We owned all the property on both sides of the 
river clear to Convent Bend, including Houston Street 
and what is now the Gunter Building and the Gunter 
Hotel, all then planted in a corn field and other 
crops. My family inherited most of that property 
and it was afterwards disposed of by my mother. 

Later the Bohnet family lived where the Lockwood 
Bank Building is located. Mr. Bohnet's daughter is 



Page Thirty-five 



r^^^ 



j the present Mrs. Kampmann, wife of the late Major 

? Kampmann. The Nic Ladners, then Pancoast and fur- 

) ther on Dr. Nette, and then the Bell Jewelry store, 

I almost to the Plaza. F. Gilbeau lived between us 

( and the Plaza on the south side of Commerce Street. 

'( He was quite a young man then and afterwards went 

\ into general merchandise business. At the corner 

': there was a stone building, where Frank Brothers 

] store is now. The building belonged to the Musquiz 

( family which was a very noted family. They left 

San Antonio after the declaration of Independence 
: and founded the town of Musquiz in Mexico. Around 

the Plaza at what is now the Kampmann Building, 
corner of Commerce and Soledad Sts. lived a man by 
the name of Barrera, (not Augustine). Around the 
Plaza there were few buildings that I recollect, ex- 
cept that of the Yturris'. Where the Frost Building 
is now, used to belong to the Trevino family. At the 
corner by the church, where the Southern Hotel is 
now, lived the Bustillo family; the other corner was 
owned by the Cassiano family. On the south side 
of the Plaza lived the family of Augustine Barrerra, 
who was appointed provisional Governor after Santa 
Ana left for San Jacinto, after the Battle of the 
Alamo. Where the old St. Leonard Hotel was, then 
belonged to the Garza family. Where the court 
house is belonged to Mariana Leal, grandmother of 
Ed. and Joe Dwyer. She owned considerable prop- 
erty on what is now known as Dwyer Avenue up 
towards Nueva Street. There was an old building 
at the corner of Market Street where Juan Montes 
de Oca lived. On the opposite corner was the old 
court house. It was an old stone building. I remem- 
ber it well, they held court there during the days 
of the Republic. 

On military Plaza, there was, I remember only one 
house at the east corner. On that corner was an 



Page Thirty-six 



old building that belonged to the Perez family. On 
the corner of North Flores, Mariano Rodriguez 
lived. Where the Silver King is, a big store was 
built some time in 1845. On the West on the site 
of the present Orphan's home lived Mr. Calonge, who 
was a school teacher and taught school either at 
that place, or back of the church. The rest was 
occupied as military quarters. Toward the middle 
was called the Cuartel, a Spanish word for quarters, 
and the Commandancia which was the headquarters 
of the military commander, was on the west side of 
Military Plaza. There was no Flores Street, either 
North or South. There were no houses across the 
San Pedro. There was a big lake where Milam Park 
and the Santa Rosa Hospital are now. The Chavez 
family lived on what is North Flores Street now. 
The Navarro's lived across the street, opposite from 
the Silver King. 

The Veramendi House is supposed generally to 
have been the Governor's Palace, but it was not an 
official residence. It was a private residence, and 
I went to school there in the early part of 1840. 

There were no buildings fronting on the west side 
of Alamo Plaza, except a few jacals, all mesquite 
posts. There was one house on Losoya street occu- 
pied by the Losoya family after whom the street 
was named. Alamo Plaza itself contained nothing 
more than the convent, some old broken down walls 
and ruins. What was then called the Alameda was 
the continuation of Commerce, now known as East 
Commerce Street. The Alameda means rows of trees 
with a path between. The Alamo means cottonwood 
trees. There was no Houston Street. 

Villita, meaning a little town, was settled by some 
of the soldiers that came with the Mexican army and 
those who had intermarried with Indians, and who 
were not supposed to be the very best people. In 



Page Thirty-seven 



fact there was a great distinction between the east 
and west side of the river. The west side of the 
river was supposed to be the residence of the first 
famines here, and the descendants of the Indians and 
Spanish soldiers settled on the east side of the river. 
On this side were the descendants of the Canary- 
Islanders, My recollection is that there was never 
a stone house on the east side of the river, except 
the Alamo and its buildings. Most of the Canary- 
Islanders who lived on this side took great pride in 
preventing any inter-marriage with mixed races and 
when one did mix he lost his caste with the rest. 

All the farming that was done was by irrigation 
within the city limits or immediately outside of it 
and the ditches supplied the water. The irrigated 
fields were along what is now South Flores Street, 
running between the San Pedro Creek and the San 
Antonio River. There were also irrigated fields 
between what is now the rock quarry and the river. 
There were also irrigated fields along What is now 
River Avenue between the main ditch and the San 
Antonio River, and as a rule the community raised 
enough produce from them to supply the necessities 
of life and to keep up the garrison. There was a 
ditch called the Acequia Madre, which was taken out 
from the east side of the river near the head of the 
river and crossed what is now Rusk and Water 
Streets and that ditch went clear down to the Mis- 
sions and irrigated the fields at the Missions. These 
were cultivated by men who were either half breed 
or full blooded Indians, who were called the Mission 
Indians. There were no bridges across the river nor 
across the San Pedro Creek and we crossed on logs 
laid across the river. I recollect distinctly on Com- 
merce Street they had two or three large mesquite 
trees with forks in the river and we crawled across 



Page Thirty-eight 



from the west side of Commerce Street to the other 
side. These were all the bridges they had when I 
was a boy. 

In addition to their town houses, each family had 
small ranches with cattle and horses. They had no 
fences and everything ran loose. The cattle were 
perfectly gentle. 

There were no tribal Indians living in the im- 
mediate vicinity of San Antonio at that time, other 
than what were called the Mission Indians, which 
were civilized Indians. The nearest that I knew of 
was a tribe of Indians that lived on the Comal near 
New Braunfels. Very few Americans were living 
in San Antonio. Among the foreigners were Jose 
Cassiano, an Italian, and John Twohig, who was a 
merchant. He kept a store where Frank Brothers 
store is now. At one time he blew it up when the 
Mexican troops were coming in. It was sometime 
between 1836 and 1840 during the Vasquez raid. 
Nat Lewis, the father of the present Nat and Dan 
Lewis, and William Elliot the father of Wm. Elliot 
and Mrs. Howard were living here then. Major 
Howard was here in 1841. He was a Captain of In- 
fantry in the Texas Army. The Mavericks lived at 
the end of what is now Houston Street. Col. Jack 
Hayes was here at that time and commanded a com- 
pany of Rangers. Sam Smith came in the very early 
days. He came about 1847 and is the father of Thad 
Smith. John James and Jim Trueheart came in about 
1845 about the time of the annexation of Texas to 
the United States. Bryan Callaghan father of the 
late Mayor Callaghan and also a brother of his, who 
was killed at what is now called Sutherland Springs 
by General Woll's army, came at this time. Calla- 
ghan was a merchant. Peter Gallagher also came at 
this time. There was a Russian doctor whose name I 
do not remember. The Mexicans called him "Vivora," 



Page Thirty-nine 



n 



\ because he kept so many snakes in his office. *1 
remember Deaf Smith, who was the spy of Houston's 

< army. Colonel Seguin had a fine stone house on 
\ Military Plaza. His father held a civil office under 

the Mexican government. After the Battle of San 
^ Jacinto, John Seguin was the first mayor of the town. 
I Some time between 1829 and 1835 he organized the 
I Mexican rangers and here remained in command un- 
\ til the Mexican troops went out. After the battle 

< of San Jacinto, Major Howard was in command of 
\ the troops of the Republic and after Texas was an- 
\ nexed to the United States. 

\ Shortly after annexation a regiment of the United 

I States Cavalry came here under Colonel Harney. It 
;> must have been in 1846. They camped near the town. 
\ It must have been near the head of the river. There 
] were no quarters for them in town large enough to 
hold them. 

In 1848 and 1849, the Germans came in. The very 
first colony I think was at Castroville. The first new 
town settled was Seguin. It was settled mostly by 
discharged soldiers out of Houston's army. 

Prince Solms New Braunfels of Germany was a 
young and handsome German Prince who came here 
and bought lands. Some of his lands were bought 
from the Veramendi and Garza heirs and this sale 
took place at our house, where the papers were 
signed. I remember very distinctly the Prince riding 
up surrounded by a retinue of a dozen troopers ; they 
all had feathers in their hats. Their uniform was a 
kind of German uniform. I saw them many times. 
The Prince stopped often at my grand-aunt's house 
opposite Seguin. He had along with him a man by 
the name of Bluecher, who was an interpreter; he 
knew several languages. He was a relative of the 



Page Forty 



' ) 



noted Prussian General. He has relatives living in 
Corpus Christi. He afterwards became a surveyor 
and surveyed most of the lands in this section. 

Dr. Herff and Dr. Schleman came at the same 
time; Dr. Nette, a druggist came afterwards; I think 
about a year after the Annexation. Dr. Schleman 
lived on Commerce Street; also Dr. Nette, the drug- 
gist. 



dlinl 



era 



The first cholera epidemic was in 1833. My father 
told us that the cholera was very bad and we left 
town and went to the head of the river until the 
cholera was over. The second epidemic of cholera 
was in 18 '9. I was still living then on Commerce 
street. Fifteen or twenty people died almost every 
night, There was one Sunday the Mexicans callea 
"black Sunday." I went up town on Monday follow- 
ing and I heard that twenty-nine people had died the 
night before. I came and told my mother, she 
got an ox cart and we moved to a ranch opposite 
Seguin that belonged to my Aunt Josefa Cuervier, 
and we remained there a long time. The cholera 
lasted a month or more. The first epidemic they 
had no doctors. 

The third epidemic of cholera was in 1866 or 1867. 
I happened to be here on a visit to my mother. 
One evening a relative of mine came to me and 
reported that Carolina DeWitt had died of cholera, 
and there were thirteen or fourteen more down with 
it. Just the day before that I had bought an am- 
bulance to take my family back to Laredo, for which 
I had paid $350. Immediately I sent a runner to the 
Medina to borrow a pair of mules, because I had left 
my carriage horses at Durands ranch, and the mules 
came right away and I took part of the family out 



Page Forty-one 






to the Medina and then came back after the otherls, 
making two trips. I took both my father's family 
and my brothers family out on the Medina and got 
my horses and sent the mules back. I remained 
there two or three days, and after seeing that the 
families were comfortable, I left with my wife and 
children for Laredo. The cholera never reached 
Laredo, there being no communication between the 
two places, except the mail rider, who made four 
trips per month. 




n 



Page Forty-iwo 



^g (§ian TIfamtIg 



My father, Ambrosio Rodri- 
guez, was the son of Manuel 
Ignacio Rodriguez, who was born 
the 7th of September, 1778, and 
was the son of Prudencio Ro- 
driguez and Polonia Curbelo. 

My great-grand-father P r u- 
dencio, was the son of Antonio 
Rodriguez, who was the oldest 
son of the widow Rodriguez, 
Maria Rodriguez Cabrera, to 
distinguish her from the other 
widow Maria Rodriguez Grana- 
dos whose maiden name was 
Maria Robaina Betancourt, a 
native of the Island of Lanza- 
rote, and a lineal descendant of 
Jean de Bethencourt, discoverer of the Canary Is- 
lands in 1402. 

Polonia Curbelo was the daugh- 
ter of Jose Curbelo son of Juan 
Curbelo and Gracia Prudhomme y 
Unpierre, all natives of the Canary 
Islands. 

Juan Curbelo born in Lanzarote 
in 1681, and his wife, Gracia 1685. 
Jose born in 1706, and Polonia, 
his daughter born in San Antonio 
de Bexar in 1749, and died at the 
comparatively early age of 53 on j^j^^ j.M.Rodrigue 
the 25th day of August 1802, but at about thirty-five. 





Page Forty-three 



n 




T. A. Rodriguez, Sr. 




Mrs. T. A. Rodriguez, Sr. 



she lived to see her son ManiJel 
Ignacio, married the 26th of Aug- 
ust, 1800, to Antonia Curbiere, 
no doubt a correct spelling of her 
own name Curbelo, as all the 
settlers from the Canary Islands 
were of Norman French descent, 
the original settlers having been 
brought to Lanzarote by Jean de 
Bethencourt and his nephew, and 
the name Bethencourt, Prud- 
homme, Unpierre, Lagarde, Cur- 
belo and etc., are common names 
in the Cathedral Records. 

My grand-mother Maria Anto- 
nia was the daughter of Andres 
Benites Curbiere, a lieutenant 
in the Spanish Army, who was 
knighted by the King of Spain 
for meritorious conduct in the 
line of duty in San Antonio de 
Bexar, on the 27th day of No- 
vember 1786. 






The original documents are 
still in my possession in which he 
was appointed by Don Domingo 
Cabello, the Governor and Com- 
mander of the Army and Provin- 
ces of Texas and New Philip- 
- -y ' k. pines, interpreter of the Indian 

JH. ■ ^^fefej Languages mentioned therein and 
■IL .j^HHI with which he was familiar. His 
mother, or my great-grand-moth- 
er was Feliciana Duran, born the 
30th day of December 1760, and her parents were 
Don Pedro Duran, a native of Castille and holding 
a high official position, and Dona Antonia Cortinas, 



T. A. Rodriguez, Jr. 



Page Forty-four 



and were married in San Antonio in the year 1754. 
My ancestors, both on my father's and mother's 
side were military men and all of them engaged in 
the service of their country at some time, and my 
mother's father, Simon Olivarri, was an officer in 
the Spanish Army, and my father Ambrosio Rodri- 
guez was a soldier in the Texas Army and fought 
with General Sam Houston at the battle of San 
Jacinto. 

"My father was 
married on the 16 
day of January 
1828 to my mother 
Maria de Jesus Oli- 
varri, daughter o f 
Simon Olivarri and 
Guadalupe de Tor- 
res. Guadalupe de 
Torres was the 
daughter of Lazaro 
de Torres, also con- 
nected with the 
Army, and Dona 
was born in the 




Don Ambrosio Rodriguez and wife 

Maria de Jesus Olivarri Rodriguez, 

father and mother of the author. 



Ana Josefa de la Garza, who 
historical Garza house, on the 12th of June 1760, and 
married to de Torres in 1779. My mother and her 
grand-mother both married at the Garza residence, 
there being a lapse of 50 years between the events. 
This is not to be wondered at as the Garza family 
occupied the same residence for over 150 years, a 
record unparalleled up to the present time in the 
annals of Texas. 

My mother's grand-mother was the daughter of 
Leonardo de la Garza who was born in San Antonio 
and baptized in the Chapel, which served as a church 
to the town, on the 29th day of August 1731, seven 
days after birth, and his wife Magdalena Martinez 



Page Fcrty-fivt 




M. 



; t 



was born and baptized"* in 
1735, their parents Geroni- 
mo de la Garza, Xaviera 
Cantr, Marcelino Martinez 
and Ildefonsa de Castro, na- 
tives of Monterey, Nuevo 
Leon, and came to Texas, 
with Don Domingo Ramon 
in 1716. 

There were eight children 
in our family; I was the eld- 
est, next to me came my 
oldest sister, Guadalupe, who 
married Adolphus D u r a n, 
and had one son named after 
his father Adolphus, all are 
now dead, Josefa and Roma- 
na died young and unmar- 
ried; Carolina married Dr. 
Mason of Leesburg, Virginia ; 
they had two sons and one daughter, her daughter 
married a son of Dr. Swann, Governor of Maryland. 
This daughter died leaving one son, who inherited 
all the estate of his grandfather. 
Alice was the first wife of General 
Bullis, both of whom are now 
dead, they had no children. The 
general afterwards married again 
and left a large family. Susan 
married a cousin, Tomas Rodriguez 
and lived in Atascosa County; he 
went into the stock business there 
and became very prominent in 
that county, representing Bexar, 

Mrs. Carolina R. ,^^., i ,i .• • .i 

Mason Wilson and other counties m the 

Legislature for many terms. They are both dead, 
and left four children, of whom Thomas A. Jr., and 



Marie A ntoinette 
Rodriguez 




Page Forty-six 




Ambrosio Rodriguez are still 
living. One daughter Nina, died 
in early youth and the other 
Marie married Mr. S e 1 i g 
; Deutschman ; she died leaving 
S two children, Ruth and Hannah. 

^ ^ Our family was related by 
marriage to Basilio Benavides, 
who represented Webb County 
in the Legislature and was a 
member of the Secession Con- 
vention of the State of Texas. 
My wife Felix, was the daugh- 
ter of Basilio Benavides, she 
is dead. I have two children 
Natalia and Ambrosio, Natalia 
has six children, Julio Jr., Hum- 
berto, Eudalia, Evelyn, Refugio 
and Jose. We lived in a house 
on Commerce Street until my 
father died in 1848, at which 
Mane (nee Rodriguez) time We moved to Laredo Street. 
Deutschman Our lot was Very large and 

deep, extended Eastwards to the 
San Pedro Creek. We had a 
very fine orchard, planted with 
peach, plum, quince, pomegran- 
ate, persimmon and other trees 
besides the vegetable garden 
which furnished enough vege- 
tables for our use. We all lived 
there until I moved to Laredo, 
Texas, and my mother remained 
there until 1887. 

After my father's death which 
occured in 1848, as previously ^ , ^ „ 

, , , 1 i -.ort-i 11 Ruth and Hannah 

stated, and up to 1861, the man- Deutschman 





i < 



Page Forty-seven 



'( ) 



\ I 



agement of our estate devolved upon me. It coijpisted 
of a great many lots and properties that he owned, 
and those that were inherited from his family. My 
mother was a great believer in education, and a large 




Natalia Rodriguez and her children, Humberto, Julio, Etidalia and Jose M. 

portion of our estate was gradually sold off to pro- 
vide the best education that the country could afford 
for myself and my sisters. The lots that the Gunter 
Building now stands on, were disposed of by us for 



Page Forty-eight 



Three Hundred ($300.00) Dollars, and the lots that 
the Gunter Hotel stands on now, perhaps did not 
bring much more. 





General John L. Bullis 



Alice Rodriguez Bullis 



The lots on the streets running down to the Con- 
vent were sold off by us at various prices from time 
to time. 

My youngest brother Ambrosio went into the cat- 
tle raising business and he established large holdings 




Reading from left to right: Ambrosio Rodriguez, died in 1S4T: 

Ambrosio Rodriguez his son; Ambrosio Rodriguez, present County 

Clerk of Webb County; Ambrosio Rodriguez Deputy District Clnk. 
Bexar County. 

in Webb County, which, at his death, riverted to the 
balance of the family, he having never married. My 
sister Alice in the meantime married Lieutenant Bul- 
lis, as heretofore stated, who was in charge of the 



Page Forty-nine 



Seminole Indian Scouts in Presidio County.* He, to- 
gether witxi General Shafter, established what is now 
known as the Shafter Mines on the tract known as 
the Alice Rodriguez Bullis Tract. 

Afterwards there arose a controversy between 




Judge J. M. Rodriguez, J. Ambrosio Rodriguez, Ruth and 
Hannah Deutschman, Evelyn and Cuta Rodriguez. 

Bullis and Shafter as to the ownership of the prop- 
erty. Shaffer's lawyer claiming in court that Bullis 
was not entitled to his interest in the mine because 



Page Fifty 



he had already located as much land as the law would 
allow him, though Bullis claimed that the tract upon 
which the mine was situated was purchased with the 
money of his wife Alice Rodriguez Bullis, who had 
inherited the money from her own father, and there- 
fore was her separate property." 

While the litigation was pending my sister Alice 
Bullis died without any issue, and under the laws of 
the State, the property should have reverted to her 
family meaning my mother and the rest of Alice's 
brothers and sisters including myself. 

My mother as head of the family relieved General 
Bullis of our interest and generously permitted him 
to take the whole of the property since he had done 
so much towards developing it." 




Page Fifty-one 



QI1|0 Prmctpal (Sjamtltes 



^^, SHORT sketches of the principal families 

living here in San Antonio prior to the 

If/'^^SW^ annexation of Texas to the union as far 

1^k5^^ as I can recollect, would not be amiss 

here. 

Naturally I know more of the history of my 

cousin's family, Don Mariano Rodriguez, and 1 will 

commence with his history. 

He was the son of Francisco Rodriguez who laid 
out most of the irrigation ditches, Francisco's father 
was Manuel Francisco Rodriguez, and his mother 
Vicenta Alvares Travieso, daughter of Vicente Alva- 
res Travieso and Maria Ana Curbelo, daughter ot 
Juan Curbelo, and Gracia Prudhomme Unpierre who 
is described as a girl of about 18 years, fair com- 
plexion, long face, light gray eyes, chestnut hair and 
eye-brows and thin nose. These physiognomical 
characteristics are yet to be found in her descend- 
ants. She was born in Lanzarote in 1718. Her 
sister who was 13 years of age when she came to 
I San Antonio, married a few years after her arrival, 

t Joseph Bueno de Rojas, and after his death married 

Christoval de los Santos Coy and dying at the age of 
86 on the 16th day of December 1803, being the last 
survivor of the original Canary Islands settlers, 
and was familiarly known as "Tia Canaria" or 
"Aunt Canary" amongst the old families who spoke 
in kind remembrance of her, even up to our time. 

On the 23rd day of April 1800 Don Mariano 
Rodriguez by a special permission was married at 
the Mission de la Concepcion by father Jose Maria 
Delgadillo to Maria de Jesus Caravajal daughter of 



Page Fifty-two 



Francisco Caravajal and Trinidad de la Pena. From 
this marriage he had two daughters and one sen, 
Maria Gertrudes married Jose Sandoval the 6th of 
June 1821, he was a native of Spain, son of Pedro 
Sandoval and Maria de Sanchez. On the 20th of 
August the same year his other daughter Maria Jo- 
sefa, was married to Don Manuel de Yturri Castillo, 
a native of the Province of Asturias, Spain, son of 
Pelayo de Yturri Castillo and Dona Maria Josefa 
Acorta. His son Jose Maria became a Prisst, settled 
in Mexico and died there. After his first wife's death 
Don Mariano married Dona Jossfa Estrada and had 
several sons and daughters amongst them Tomas 
Rodriguez whose biography has already been given 
by Judge Rodriguez in the sketch of his own family. 
The other children were Antonita who married 
Erasmo Chavez, and after his death married Thomas 
Code, and had one child from each, Alexander C:avez 
and Tom Code Jr. Juan Rodriguez still lives on his 
father's original land grant next to V^e San Pedro 
Springs. Maria married Rafael Martinez and has 
one daughter living at Niagara Falls, New York, 
Hortense Nicklis. 

Don Mariano was essentially a military man. In 
the time of Santa Ana, he was in the actual command 
of the military forces here. The records of the 
Mexican Government show that at that time he was 
authorized to organize, and did organize a regiment 
called the San Fernando Rangers. He went with 
Santa Ana after the battle of San Jacinto to live in 
Mexico, and remained there until after the Treaty 
of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, and then returned to San 
Antonio. 

After his return from Mexico, he found a great 
deal of his land had been taken from him by ficti- 
tious law suits, and he spent the rest of his life try- 



Page Fifty-three 



ing to recover his property that had beep taken from 
him. He died at the beginning of the Civil War. 

I knew the Garza family well. My grandmother 
Guadalupe Olivarri used to call Eon Jose Antonio de 
la Garza, uncle, therefore we are distantly related 
to this Garza family. To what degree this relation- 
ship extended, has been fully set forth in the bio- 
graphical sketch of the Ambrosio Rodriguez family. 

Jose Antonio de la Garza was the youngest son 
of Leonardo de la Garza and was born in San Anto- 
nio in the Garza house corner of Acequia and Vera- 
mendi Streets on the 30th of May 1776 and baptized 
18 days after birth on the 7th of June and in that 
house he lived and died. His father bought out the 
interests of his brothers and sisters to the residence 
in 1751 the year before he was married to his wife 
Magdalena, and in his turn Jose Antonio bought all 
the interest in the homestead of his brothers and 
sisters the year he was married to his second wife 
in 1824 or 73 years aftsr the first purchase. 

As stated, he was married twice, his first wife was 
Dona Josefa Rivas, daughter of Captain Francisco 
Rivas, from Saltillo, Mexico. From her he had 
three children. Carmen, Vicente and Ra''ael, the lat- 
ter married into the Veramendi family, and that 
family is now represented by his namesake Rafael 
Garza, the Veramendi name itself being extinct. He 
married his second wife on the 20th of July 1824; 
she was Dona Maria Josefa Menchaca, daughter of 
Jose Menchaca and Marguerite Chavez and grand- 
daughter of Francisco Xavier Chavez of Albuquer- 
que, New Mexico, and Juana Padron, daughter of 
Joseph Padron and Gertrudes de Armas, daughter of 



Page Fifty-four 



Maria Robaina de Betancourt and Martin Lorenzo 
de Armas, Canary Islanders. 

Jose Menchaca, her father, was the son of Diego 
Menchaca and Rosalia Rodriguez, the latter an 
aunt of Don Mariano Rodriguez. In fact, as we 
trace back all those pioneer families we find that they 
were connected by consanguinity or affinity and it 
was a God-send that so many army officers, attracted 
by the beauty of the San Antonio girls, married them 
and thus saved the pioneer famiUes from gradual 
deterioration by continual intermarriage. 

From his second wife he had a very large 
family. Rudecinda, the oldest, better known as 
St. Magdalena, Mother Superior of the Ursuline 
Convent for many years; Margarita, who married 
James L. Trueheart, the next Josefa, who married 
John C. Crawford, the next Carclina who msrried 
Bart. J. DeWitt of the New York DeWitts; the next 
Helena, who married Manuel de Yturri; the next 
Joseph Rafael was killed at the battle of Mansfield, 
Louisiana, then the yovngest, Leorardo namesake of 
his grand-father. Of this large family only two sur- 
vive in my day, the one just mentioned and Mrs. 
Yturri. They all lived where the Rand Building is 
now being constructed, opposite the Veram-^ndi Pal- 
ace. They owned a great deal of property in the 
city and a great deal out towards the Missions. 
They owned all the land between the San Antonio 
River and the Leon Creek, In fact, he was supposed 
to be the largest land owner of any one he'e. He 
owned a great deal of land up in the Northern part 
of the City, where Brackenridge Park is now, and 
extending towards Alamo Heights. He has b' en 
honored by having a County in Texas named after 
him. 



Page Fifty-fhe 



w 



^eramcnbi (Samtly 



( ') 



I < 



The first of the Veramendi family to come to 
Texas, was Don Fernando de Veramendi. His w'fe 
was Josefa Granados, also known as Jose^a Rot'ri- 
guez Granados, grand-darghter of Mara Pobaina de 
Betancourt Rodriguez Granados. He had S3veral 
children, but only Don Juan Martin de Veramrndi 
survived; Don Fernando died in 1784. Don Martin 
married into the Navarro family; his wife was Josefa 
Navarro, daughter of the old Corsican, Angel Na- 
varro. 

They had as far as I remember, five children, three 
girls and two boys. 

The eldest daughter, Ursula, marrird on the 2?th 
day of April, 1831, James Bowie, son of Raymond/'^ 
Bowie and Alvina Jones. k^M~ ^ CoZuUy) /vy^-< 

The young couple went to Monclova to spend their 
honey-moon ; they remained there until about 1833, 
when Ursula and their child died. Bowie came 
back bowed down with grief and ready for any en- 
terprise. His subsequent history is well known. His 
sister-in-law, Juana de Veramendi, daughter by adrp- 
tion of Don Juan Martin Veramendi, was with him 
to the last. 

Rafael C. Garza, son of Don Antonio de la Garza, 
married Dona Josefa de Veramendi. They had t'^rre 
children Adolfo, who was an officer of high grade 
in Mexico and is buried in the pantheon of San Fer- 
nando, in the City of Mexico, dedicated to the great 
men of that Republic. ^ 

Jran M. Garza, who at the t^'me of his death was 
Assistant Marshal of the City of San Antonio, a^d 
Victoria, who married Doctor W. Merick, son of the 
old Bexar County Surveyor. The Doctor is still living. 



Page Fifty-six 




Juan M. Garza married Miss Tulitas Sandoval, 
daughter of Carlos Sandoval, the latter being a 
grand-son of Don Mariano Rodriguez. They had 
several children and they represent the Veramendi 
family at the present day, a son, Ralph, being the 
eldest of that family now living. Adolfo left no issue 
and Victoria also left no family. 

After the death of Josefa Veramendi, his first 
wife, Rafael married the other daughter, Maria An- 
tonia de Veramendi. They had two children as far 
as I know, Fernando and Rafaela, both are now dead. 
Rafaela married Pedro Duque de Estrada, and several 
children survive. 

Of the Veramendi boys I have little to say. I re- 
member them as very handsome, polite young men, 
but Pepe went away to California during the gold 
excitement in 1849, and Marcos moved to Mexico 
where he married Miss Louisa Meade, but whether 
any children survived them or not, I cannot say. 



West side of Main Plaza 
showing Padre's house. 







Page Fifty-seven 



^afoirro J[mittlg* 



<, > 






I was very well ac- 
quainted with the 
members of the Na- 
varro family. In my 
time Don Antonio Na- 
varro, was the most 
conspicuous of them 
all. He had gained 
his celebrity as one of 
the signers of the 
Texas Declaration of 
Independence, and had 
taken an active part 
assisting the Texans 
to achieve their inde- 
pendence. 

He was a man of 
large physique, imDos- 
ing presence, and of 
pleasing address. He 
had received a liberal 
education; was well 

read, had visited the City of Mexico and made several 

trips to New Orleans. 

He was the son of Angel Navarro, a country-man 
of Napoleon Bonaparte, the latter going towards the 
rising sun to become the greatest man mentioned in 
secular history, and the former towards the setting 
sun to a small border town in the wilds of Texas, 
where unknown to fortune and renown, he quietly 
passed away in peace and contentment, t 

Don Antonio had several sons and daughters ; Jose 
Antonio G., Angel, Sixto, Celso, Arthur, Carmen, 
Gertrudis and Josefa, none of whom are now living. 




J. ANTONIO NAVARRO 
By special permission of E. Raba, 
Photographer 



Page Fifty-eight 



He gave his children a good education, Angel being 
sent to Harvard College in Massachusetts, where he 
graduated in the Class of '49 or thereabouts. Noting 
the fact that their father was a Corsican, we find it 
strange, peculiar, surprising and interesting to note 
the Cosmopolitan character of the inhabitants of San 
Antonio, even from its earliest days. We find here 
Spaniards from all the different Provinces of Spain, 
Oastille, Andalucia, Malaga and Asturias ; Frenchmen, 
Flemings, Italians, Irishman and Anglo Saxons only 
after the first quarter of the nineteenth century. 
Many of these men were of high social standing in 
the community from whence they came. There must 
be something alluring and attractive in this old City. 
The Baron de Ripperda lived here. Three of his 
children were born here, and some of them married 
here. General Simon de Herrera lived here, was 
murdered at the Rosillo and is buried within the old 
Cathedral Walls ; also General Manuel Salcedo, Gov- 
ernor of Texas during the Spanish Domination, lived 
here, was assasinated the same day that General 
Herrera was murdered, and is also buried within the 
Cathedral. His funeral was carried on with all the 
ceremonies of the Catholic Church. 

The 28th of August 1813, was a sad day for San 
Antonio, for on that day there were buried ten other 
distinguished men, victims of the insurgents of that 
period. 

This town was specially fascinating for Army 
men. After retiring from the army, many remained 
here. Governor General Urrutia y Cevallos, who was 
in charge at the time the Canary Island colonists 
arrived, made his permanent home here. 

Captain Juan Antonio Perez de Almazan, who re- 
ceived the colonists in the Absence of the Governor, 
remained here permanently. 



Page Fifty-nine 



) ') 



U 



- < 



\l 



General Cordero married Miss Gertrude Perez, a 
young lady of this city. 

Pedro Duran, a native of Castille; Francisco 
Xavier Chavez, son of Francisco Xavier Duran y 
Llaves, receiving the name from his ancestors who 
were the keepers of the keys or "Llaves" of the Royal 
Household of the King of Spain. 

Thus we see how, from early days, men from all 
parts of the world came here when San Antonio was 
supposed to be isolated from all the centers of civili- 
zation. 

In the year 1808 or thereabouts, Major Zebulon 
Pike an Emissary of the United States Government, 
visited San Antonio, and he estimated the population 
then, at three thousand people, which was a pretty 
correct calculation. 

After the war of Mexican Independence, man> 
families moved away from here; also after the Texas 
war, so that San Antonio had a smaller number of 
inhabitants in the '40's, than at the beginning of the 
century. This is corroborated by the fact that at 
least two hundred old Spanish families who lived 
here at that time, are unrepresented today in Bexar. 

But to continue the broken thread of the ISTavarro 
family: — Don Antonio Navarro was rewarded, if 
such can be called a reward, by having a county, a 
street and a school named after him and a city after 
the birthplace of his father. 

Don Antonio lived to a good old age, was beloved 
and respected by all who knew him and his life is 
worthy to be emulated by our youth. 

Another son of Don Angel, was Luciano Navarro 
who married Miss Teodora Caravajal, a member of 
the old Antonio Caravajal family and Gertrudis San- 
chez, prominent in Bexar. He had many sons and 



Page Sixty 



daughters, but if his family is represented in Bexar 
at this time, I am not aware of it. 

Luciano, his son, died lately in Laredo at a very 
advanced age. A daughter Teodorita married Mr. 
DuHamel and moved to Cuba. This is as far as I 
can trace Don Luciano's family. 

The family of Don Jose Antonio is now represented 
by his grand-children, amongst them being Eugenio 
Navarro, son of Angel Navarro, and Antonio Na- 
varro, son of Sixto, a noble young man, of courteous 
manners and pleasing address, and a Spanish Teacher 
in the Public Schools of San Antonio, Texas. 



|Eeal ^amtlg 



In my youth Don Juan Leal was the head of the 
Leal family. His ancestors were among the Canary 
Island Colonists. There were three families of Leals. 
Don Juan Leal Goraz, Juan Leal Jr., or El Mozo 
and Joseph Leal. 

Juan Leal Jr., had long been married and had a 
large family; Joseph Leal married during the jour- 
ney from Vera Cruz to their destination, so as to be 
one of the heads of a family and receive his share 
of land on his arrival. 

The original number of families was twelve, but 
at the time they reached their destination there were 
: I fifteen families, three of the young men having mar- 

ried from the time of their departure from Vera 
Cruz to their arrival at San Antonio, Texas, thus 
augmenting the families to fifteen, the remaining 
single men in a group were considered one family, 
thus making the sixteen usually mentioned in his- 
tory. 

Don Juan Leal Goraz was the oldest man amongst 
the colonists and was chosen the first perpetual Al- 
calde of the town. 



Page Sixty-one 



■n 



/ ) 



II 



The Leals were numerous and influential in the 
early days of San Fernando de Bexar. 

Don Juan lived to a good old age, leaving quite a 
large family. Narcisco, the eldest was a merchant 
in his early manhood and afterwards engaged in the 
live-stock business. He recently died, living like his 
father to a good old age. The Leals are a long lived 
people. An uncle of theirs, Don Vicente Leal, lived 
to the age of 94. 

SEl^e ^cimoit nub ^eitcl]acci J[amtlics 

In my youth I knew Dona Teresa Ramon, who 
married Don Antonio Menchaca. There were no male 
members of the Ramon family living at that time. 
The Ramons were the descendants of Don Diego Ra- 
mon, nephew of Don Domingo Ramon, the first Com- 
mander of the Garrison of San Antonio de Bexar. 
The Ramon family is now represented by members 
of the Menchaca family. The name of Ramon is ex- 
tinct. 

Don Antonio Menchaca, who married Dona Teresa 
was a member of the old Menchaca family and took 
the sides of the Texans in the war of Independence. 
He fought at San Jacinto and was a Captain of the 
Company. 

In the Mexican history of the battle, it is related 
therein, that an officer of tremendous size, speaking 
Spanish, urged his men forward in a voice of thun- 
der to give no quarter and that they slaughtered the 
Mexicans like sheep. The author says : "I shall never 
forget that fearful sight." The man l^e referred to, 
is supposed to have been Don Antonio. Many of his 
descendants are living in San Antonio, but do not 
bear the name of Menchaca. This name also has be- 
come extinct. 



Pa^e Sixty-two 



ii 



dasstaito (3[amtlg 



Don Jose Cassiano, the first of that name in San 
Antonio, was a countryman of Christopher Colum- 
bus, and was born in Genoa, in 1791. At an early 
age he came to America, and finally settled here in 
San Antonio. His first wife was Dona Gertrudis 
Perez, widow of the Spanish Brigadier General Cor- 
dero, who had been Governor of Texas for many 
years. 

He had one son, Ignacio, who was brought up in 
luxury and with delicacy, but this did not spoil him, 
for he grew up to be an elegant, courteous and con- 
siderate gentleman. 

Don Jose after his first wife's death, married Dona 
Margarita Valdes and had two children, Fermin and 
Isabel, both are now dead. 

For his third wife he married the beloved and ex- 
cellent lady Dona Trinidad Soto, a native of Laredo, 
Texas, daughter of Miguel Soto and of Jesusa Trevi- 
no; from his last wife he had no issue. 

His son Ignacio married Margarita Rodriguez, 
daughter of Rufino Rodriguez and Dolores Rivas. 
He had many sons and daughters, but the best known 
are Jose Cassiano, formerly very active in political 
affairs, but he now has retired to enjoy the fruits of 
his successful labors, and Gertrudis, wife of the re- 
tired army officer, Charles P. Smith. 

Fermin, son of his second wife, married into the 
Flores Valdez family, and Isabel married Jose Eva- 
risto Garcia, related to Dona Trinidad Soto. 

There are many of their descendants living in San 
Antonio. Fermin's son, Geronimo was named after 
the father of Don Jose Cassiano, and a daughter 
after the mother Catalina de Cantania. 



Page Sixty-three 



fflI|a&C2 J}[amily 



The first of the Chavez family in San Antonio, was 
Don Francisco Xavier Chavez, who was born in Al- 
buquerque, New Mexico. At the age of eight years 
he was stolen by the Lipan Indians, who occasionally 
made raids into New Mexico. He remained with 
them about fifteen years, when he left them in San 
Antonio, having been rescued by the army stationed 
in San Antonio; he joined their ranks, and was im- 
mediately appointed interpreter of Indian languages 
with which he was familiar. 

His descendants have two rewards of merit signed 
by the king of Spain at the Palace of Aranguez for 
services rendered by him to the Spanish Government. 

By permission of the Commander of the Post, he 
was allowed to return to his native home in order to 
obtain credentials of his social standing, and on his 
return, the credentials being satisfactory, he married 
a Canary Islander Juana Padron, daughter of Jose 
Padron and Antonia de Armas. 

Jose Padron was the son of Jose Padron and Maria 
Sanabria, native of the Canary Islands, and heads of 
one of the original families. Don Francisco had sev- 
eral children, amongst them Gertrudis de Chavez, 
who married on the 23rd of April 1818, Juan M. 
Montes, son of Francisco Montes de Oca. 

Another son, Jose Ignacio Chavez, born on the 21st 
day of September 1791, married Maria Leonarda 
Montes de Oca, daughter of Francisco Montes de Oca 
and Josefa Sambrano, and they were the parents of 
Juan Antonio Chavez, who married his cousin Ger- 
trudis de Rivas, daughter of Juan Manuel Rivas and 
Gertrudis Menchaca, a sister of Josefa Menchaca, 
wife of Jose Antonio de la Garza. 



Page Sixty-jour 



He was the last male Representative of the old 
Chavez family which I knew, and died lately at the 
advanced age of 85. He and I were schoolmates 
going to a school here in the Veramendi house, which 
was taught by a man by the name of Taylor. 

He had several children, but I am not acquainted 
with them and therefore cannot give their history. 

Don Manuel Yturri was a native of the Asturias, 
a Province of Spain. This was a Province where 
the Spaniards made a determined stand and grad- 
ually drove the Saracens out of Spain. For this 
reason they hold themselves above the rest of the 
inhabitants of Spain. In early youth Don Manuel 
left home and started for Mexico bearing letters 
of recommendation to the Viceroy of Mexico. He 
obtained work as a clerk in the business house of 
the Urtiaga Brothers, celebrated Spanish Merchants 
of Mexico, and they having business here, sent 
Mr. Yturri to represent them and becoming en- 
amoured of the town he settled permanently here. 

On the 20th of August, 1821, he married Josela 
Rodriguez, as stated heretofore in these memoirs. 
Soon after marriage he was driven out from Bexar 
on account of his nationality, he being a peninsular 
Spaniard, but after the war of Independence he 
returned, was well received and his property was 
returned to him. They had two children. Manuel 
de Yturri Castillo, named after his father, and 
Vicenta, named after Dona Vicenta Alvares Trav- 
ieso, grand-mother of Don Mariano Rodriguez and 
daughter of Vicente Alvares Travieso and Maria 
Ana Curbelo, daughter of Juan Curbelo and Gracia 
Prudhomme y Unpierre. 



Page Sixty -five 



Young Manuel married Dona Helena Garza, 
daughter of Don Antonio de la Garza. They have 
a very large family. 

They are one of the few old families who have 
preserved and even added to the luster of their 
ancestors. 

Vicenta married Mr. Edmunds, a gentleman from 
Louisiana. They have several children and they 
live in contentment and peace near the old Con- 
cepcion Mission. 



^Ior0S ^amtlg 



There were two families of Flores. Those who 
lived on the corner of Dolorosa and S. Flores Sts., 
being the Flores de Abrego, a very old family com- 
ing here from the time of Don Domingo Ramon. 
They came originally from Saltillo. 

Don Francisco Flores de Abrego, on the 1st of 
May, 1722, married Maria Sapopa de Carabajal, 
and ever since that time this Flores family has 
been prominent and influential in Bexar. They 
have ranches and farms on the River below the City. 
The town of Floresville was named after them. 

The other branch of the Flores family was the 
Flores Valdez, likewise a very ancient and prom- 
inent family in Bexar. They are represented at 
the present time by Mrs. Fermin Cassiano and 
Mrs. Mateu, whose daughter married Thad W. 
Smith, the old Ex-County Clerk. 



^kja p^rcs JIfamilg 



On the 10th day of May, 1832, Don Alejo Perez, 
son of Remigio Perez and Maria de la Concepcion 
Flores, married Juana de Veramendi, adopted 
daughter of Juan Martin Veramendi and Maria 



Page Sixty -six 



Josef a Navarro. They had one son, Don Alejo 
Perez, named after his father who is still living 
in Bexar and has held several offices in the County. 

Augustin Barrera, son of Don Juan Barrera and 
Dona Encarnacion Pulido, married on the 12th day 
of January, 1827, Maria Ignacia Rodriguez Salinas, 
daughter of Manuel Salinas and Maria Ignacia 
Flores. They had a very large family and are 
worthily represented at the present time through 
the female line of the family, by the families of 
Charles Baumberger and Martin Campbell and 
through the male line by Sixto Barrera, son of 
Augustin Barrera and Pilar Chavez, of the old 
Chavez family. 

Juan Barrera, the oldest son of Don Augustin, 
lived to a good old age and passed away lately. 



^fguht (3[amtlg 



The Seguins were very prominent and influential 
in early days. The first mentioned in Texas His- 
tory was Santiago Seguin who came here in 1722. 
One of his descendants, Don Erasmo Seguin, was 
a power in his days. His son John N. Seguin, as 
he is known in history, was also very influential, 
he married on the 18th of January, 1826, Maria 
Gertrudis Flores, daughter of Jose Flores and 
Antonia Rodriguez. 

Colonel John N. Seguin joined the Texas forces 
and did excellent service in the war of Independence. 
He had an idea that Texas would continue to be an 
independent State, but when it joined the Union, 
he left for Mexico and never returned to Texas. 

He has several descendants living in Monterey, 
Mexico, Santiago, his son, being quite prominent 
there. 



Page Sixty-seven 



(SInhn (3[amil^ 



The present representative of the Indo Family 
now living in San Antonio, is Don Manuel Indo, 
grandson of Manuel Indo, a Spanish Officer, who 
was stationed at San Antonio at the beginning of 
the 19th Century. His father was Augustin Indo 
and his mother Dona Maria Antonia Asimigaray. 
He married Maria Casiana Zambrano on the 29th 
of July, 1812, daughter of Pedro Zambrano and 
Concepcion de la Santa. 

The Zambrano family was very prominent in Tex- 
as during the Spanish Domination of Texas. Jose 
Maria Zambrano, Jose Dario Zambrano and Juan 
Manuel were especially well known. They were 
descendants of Marcario Zambrano and Juana de 
Ocon y Trillo. Don Pedro Ocon y Trillo, her 
father, being a native of Spain, from the Province of 
Malaga. 

Don Manuel had a very large family. His son, 
Miguel Indo married in 1849 Margarita Delgado, 
daughter of Juan Delgado, a descendant of the 
Canary Islanders. His ancestors being Juan Delgado 
and Catarina Leal, daughter of Juan Leal El Mozo, 
and Maria Engracia Acosta, a native of the Canary 
Islands, and son of Lucas Delgado of Lanzarote. 

Don Miguel was known as an honest, courteous 
and hospitable gentleman and very popular among 
his neighbors and worthy descendant of a Castil- 
lian gentleman. 

His son, Manuel, has a ranch and farm in Wilson 
County, and is regarded as one of the most sub- 
stantial and respected men of Bexar. 



Page Sixty-eighi 




Some representatives of prominent Spanish families, 
living and ilead. 



Page Sixty-nine 



This family came with the Monterey, Mexico, 
Colonists. The head of the Montes de Oca family 
in my day was Don Juan Montes de Oca, born on 
the 16th day of December, 1782, and on the 20th 
day of April, 1818, married Gertrudis Chavez, 
daughter of Francisco Xavier Chavez, and Juana 
Fadron. His father was Francisco Montes de Oca 
and his mother Josefa Zambrano. 

One of his sisters, Maria Leonarda married Igna- 
tio Chavez, as set forth in the Chavez family 
sketch. 

Another sister, Maria Antonia Celedonia mar- 
ried October 25th, 1828, Manuel Cadena, son of 
Juan Cadena and Maria del Refugio Falcon, a 
(laughter of the Cadena family married Juan E. 
Barrera and another married Francisco Galan of 
the Garza Galan family of Saltillo, Mexico. 

Many descendants of the Montes de Oca family 
are to be found in Bexar, but I am unacquainted 
with the present representatives of that family 
bearing the name of Montes de Oca. 



P^rB2 (3[amilg 



J ( Don Antonio Perez was our next door neighbor 

I on Commerce Street. He had two children. Mrs. 

\ Cleofas Ximenez and Antonio Perez, namesake of 

his father; both are still living. 

Don Antonio was a descendant of Jose Perez, 
native of Teneriffe and Paula Granados of Lanza- 
rote. He was the son of Don Domingo Perez and 
Maria Hernandez, and she was the young daughter 
of Maria Robaina de Betancourt from her first 
husband, Juan Rodriguez Granados. 



Pfigc Sf^>enty 



< ( 



Antonio Perez, Jr., married a daughter of Fer- 
min Cassiano and Teresa Flores Valdes. He has 
a large family and is highly respected. 



^ut2 ^amil^ 



I was well acquainted with Don Francisco Ruiz, 
the principal one of the family in my youth. He 
was familiarly called Don Pancho. Everybody knew 
him by that name, and it suited his genial manners 
and democratic ways. 

He was the Alcade of the City at the time of 
the Battle of the Alamo. His father was the brother ^ 

of Dona Josefa Ruiz, wife of Don Angel Navarro, \ 

therefore he was the first cousin of Don Jose An- ] \ 

tonio Navarro and of Josefa Navarro, wife of Juan \ \ 

Martin de Veramendi, and uncle by affinity of 
James Bowie, the latter having married Ursula, his 
niece. 

Although the wife of Bowie was dead at the time 
of Texas agitation for freeaom, he still considered 
himself a member of the Veramendi family, and 
was kind and affectionate with the relatives of his 
wife, and they reciprocated his affections. j j 

After the battle of the Alamo, it is said that by \ \ 

authority of the Alcalde Don Francisco Ruiz, the 
remains of the heroes of the Alamo, were gathered 
together and carefully and tenderly placed beneatT» \ \ 

the sod. 1 1 

It is believed that through the influence of their 
nephew Bowie, both Don Pancho and Jose Antonio 
Navarro, were induced to join the Texas forces ; - 

and give their services to the Texas struggle for 
Independence. Both were signers of the Texas Dec- 
laration of Independence \ \ 



Page Seventy-one 



The services of Don Francisco* have not been 
as fully recognized by the State of Texas as those 
of Don Antonio for there is only a school and a street 
named in his honor 

He had several children. I knew Alejandro, who 
died in early manhood and Eugenio who is still 
living here. They were educated in New Jersey. 

One son, his namesake, Francisco, is living in 
El Paso, Texas. If there are any other relatives, 
representing that family here, besides Don Eugenio 
Ruiz, I am not aware of it. 



Old Cathedral 1738 




Page Seventy-two 




Rear view of San Fernando Cathedral, show- 
ing the massive walls and Moorish dome. The 
church was built by subscription, and many names 
which appear among the original contributors are 
still familiar. Here, too, one may read the marriage 
contract of Ursula Veramendi and James Bowie. 



Seventy-three 



"^nx th Q 




COULD hardly close these pages without 
. saying a few words about the good peo- 

^-^^ pie of Laredo who have been kind to 

me from the first day that I arrived. 

Laredo, Texas, is one of the oldest settlements of 
the State, much older than Nuevo Laredo, across the 
River. It was perhaps settled about the same time 
that San Antonio was. The records show that two 
of the principal families, the Benavides and Sanchez, 
settled there in 1767. It was always a thriving town 
and did big business with the interior of Mexico. 

The County of Webb is one of the largest in the 
State. The affairs of the City and County have 
always been in the hands of the Spanish speaking 
people, and the manner in which the affairs of that 
city and County have been managed is a complete 
answer to the proposition that the Spanish people 
cannot govern themselves under a Republican form 
of government. I venture to say that no city in the 
State has a higher class of citizenship than has 
Laredo and the principal families, such as the Bena- 
vides, Sanchez, Garcia, de la Garza, Vidaurri, Trevino, 
Bruni, Martin, Ortiz, Sahnas, Ramon, Herrera and 
Farias, will easily rank with the best people of the 
United States. 

Their treatment of the American stranger alone 
shows to a large extent the kind of people they are, 
for those who have come among them and have 
shown a disposition to join in their affairs they have 
welcomed with open arms and given them places of 



Seventy-four 



i 



honor. It is true that some Americans have come 
there who for some reason or other, just as soon 
as they arrived, begun a movement to clean out 
the Mexicans. They would rant at public meetings 
and declare that this was an American country and 
the Mexicans ought to be run out. That type of man 
of course has never been able to get along with our 
people, nor should he. The Spanish families of the 
first class who live in Webb County, have been there 
over 150 years, and it hardly seems reasonable to 
suppose that they would voluntarily leave to please 
the strangers. 

It has been my good fortune to enjoy the friend- 
ship of the best American citizens living in Laredo, 
and I am under many obligations to them for their 
courtesies to me. Especially to the Messrs, Atlee, 
McLane, Page, Foster, Mullaly, Cogley, Haynes, 
Brewster, Wilcox, McGregor, Penn, Barthelow, D, D, 
Davis, Leyendecker, Ligarde, Hamilton, Puig and 
many others, too numerous to mention. 

To show that the citizens of Laredo are patriotic, 
I point to the fact that they organized three com- 
panies of soldiers to the Confederate service, under 
command of Colonel Santos Benavides. 

The principal families of Laredo who control most 
of the property have always been conservative, al- 
though there have been several attempts made by the 
land boomers to wreck that town and to load it down 
with taxes. During the 34 years that I was County 
Judge we built two court houses and two jails, and 
yet did not issue a single dollar of bonded indebted- 
ness against it. That is a fairly good showing where 
75 per cent of the County are of Mexican parentage 
and speak the Spanish language. 

There is just one little matter that I would desire 
to say a few words about before I close this book, 
and that is to testify my admiration for the humble 
and hard working Mexican laborers. I know of no 



Seventy-five 



w 



class of men who are paid less for what they do than 
these poor men, and yet crime among them is almost 
unknown. It's true that once in a while they will 
have a little cutting scrape among themselves when 
they drink a little more than is good for them, but 
when it comes to real downright honesty they can set 
a very good example to men who have had much 
better opportunities than they have. 

I have always had the utmost confidence in the 
future of Laredo, and I hope that the old Spanish 
families of Laredo and Webb County will not do as 
their rich compatriots have done in Mexico — sell out 
their land to the stranger and then rent from him. 
Whenever things settle down in Mexico Laredo must 
prosper and become one of the best towns in the 
State. 

At the close of this little volume I want to reiterate 
that I am no literary man, but I have simply jotted 
down my thoughts and experiences upon the matters 
that I came in contact with during my long life, and 
I hope that a perusal of them by my family and my 
friends will be of some interest and perhaps benefit 
to them. 

FINIS 



Seventy-six 





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